"Tell me, Sera, why do you insist on disobeying orders? I tell you to wait until a ship is secured before you board it, and yet you lead the charge, even going so far as to use yourself as a decoy."
Sera was in a richly furnished room, sitting on a small stool, her feet up on the bars of it and hands pressed against the seat between her legs as she slouched forward, "But it's so boring."
Across the room stood a tall, broad shouldered man of obvious Asian descent that was just starting to show the signs of aging, "You have more important responsibilities than your fun, you are a navigator, not a member of an assault team, we need you safe if capturing a ship is to mean anything."
The blonde shifted around slightly, frowning, "Okay, I'm sorry."
"Don't do it again."
Silence for a moment, then Sera nodded, "Kay."
The man stepped over, placing his hand on top her head, "I know how skilled you are, even Jacks has commented on how good you've gotten, but I couldn't bear losing my adopted daughter."
Sera looked up at him around his arm, and offered a smile up at him.
"There we go, run along now, I have some work to do."
Sera nodded and swung off the chair and walked over to the door, waving as she went out, "See ya Dad."
Outside, she found herself in a plain, metal hallway, heading straight to a flight of steps and heading down the steep stairs with practiced precision, only making it about halfway down before she just grabbed a bar over her head and swung off it, propelling herself far enough forward to land past the end of the steps.
The older man stood in the doorway, watching his adopted daughter go, "Good Lord, most parents with a seventeen year-old daughter worry about what kind of guy she's going to bring home." He shrugged, "Then again, most girls her age aren't daughter to the captain of a pirate guild."
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
A bulkhead door was pushed open, and Sera stepped through onto an open deck, taking a deep breath of the misty air. She stood on the main deck of what appeared to be a large tanker that had run aground on a small island, retrofitted to serve as a dock for other ships, as well as a place to live. She lightly strolled over to the rail, her hands folded behind her back, then slid to a sitting position, her feet hanging over the edge, her arms hooked over the lower portion of the railing.
Kicking her feet slightly, she watched the silhouettes moving through the fog, other ships crawling their way through the channels between the many islands and reefs, guided by navigators that had managed to learn enough of the veil to make it to their base and back out. To everyone here, this was a hideaway, somewhere the outcasts of society could gather without fear of being bothered by the superpowers of the world. But to Sera, this uncertain maze of islands, coral, and wrecked ships that was eternally shrouded in fog was home. This was where she lived, and really the only solid ground she'd been on for any length of time. Sure, she'd been to cities, and seen areas all around the world, but it was always short term, and she never really felt right when she wasn't either on a ship or back in the veil.
A heavy clunk drew her attention up to see the walking wall of muscle that was Jacks leaning against the railing next to her, "So, how'd it go, Miss Sera?"
She leaned back, propping herself up with her hands, "I got in trouble, again. Dad says I can't board ships anymore until they're already conquered."
The big man laughed, "Well of course he said that, boarding ships is dangerous. You don't wanna end up looking like me, all scarred up."
"No offense Jacks, but if I ended up looking like you, I think I'd freak out."
The big man laughed, "That's true, but you know what I mean, he just doesn't want you to get hurt."
She shifted back forward, looking out into the fog, "Yeah, I know he means well, but that doesn't change the fact that it's boring just sitting on a boat, waiting while you all do the work. I mean, it's not like I'm a 'normal' girl, I know that from the time I've spent outside the veil, can't he just trust me to be careful?"
"Yeah, I'll agree with ya there, Miss Sera, you aren't a typical seventeen year-old girl, but he's your father, it's his job to worry about you. And ya know, I wouldn't want to see our little princess get hurt either."
Sera let out a small laugh at the nickname 'Princess of the Pirates,' she couldn't remember who had given her that name, but it'd stuck. "Thanks, Jacks. So anyway, how was the haul from that ship?"
The big man flashed a broad smile, "We hit the jackpot…that ship was carrying a load of sakuradite, that'll sell for a mint, and people are willing to buy that stuff without asking where it came from. Our only challenge is figuring out who will pay the best price."
"Sakuradite, really? Wow…somebody back in Britannia is gonna be pissed."
"No kidding."
The two were interrupted by the sound of a commotion below, the two looked down to see a large group of people coming in from the docks, arguing loudly. The distance they were away, what they were saying was unintelligible.
Sera looked up at Jacks.
"Lets check it out," he said.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
"I'm telling you, this is insane!"
"You're just jealous that you didn't manage to pull it off yourself."
"Isaac, it's one thing to hit shipments, an empire as big as Britannia can ignore a few missing freighters…but this…"
"Is gonna put us on the map! The famous outlaws that did what no revolutionary group has managed yet. Not even those Black Knights over in Area 11 managed something like this!"
"But we don't want to be on the map, we aren't equipped to take on Britannia!"
The two men stood toe-to-toe, yelling in each other's faces.
"I'm telling you, this is a bad idea! We should just…" he cut off as he felt a pressure against his chest.
Both men looked down to see the top of Sera's blond head between them as she pushed them apart. She turned her copper eyes on each of them in turn, "Knock it off guys!"
Jacks stepped up behind her, now also standing between the two arguing men, "Isaac, Kelik, what's up?"
Kelik turned to look at Jacks, "Jacks, tell this man that he's crazy, he might listen to you."
"No way, man, tell this fool to stop complaining that he didn't manage to pull off something this awesome."
"It's crazy, insane, stupid!"
"We're gonna be rich and famous!"
"We don't WANT to be famous!"
"You don't want to be famous!"
"It's for the best of the clan!"
"No, what I'm doing is for the best of the clan!"
"How is turning the attention of the world's superpower on us for the OW!" he yelped in unison with the other man and looked back down at Sera to see that she had just slammed her heels into the feet of both men.
"Would you two shut up already? At least let us hear what you're arguing about! Isaac, what is it that you did?"
The man grinned broadly, "Okay, get this…so we're just out toolin around, we'd already hit our mark for the day when we see this small convoy in the distance. Outta curiosity, we got a bit closer to see that they were flying a Britannian royal flag, along with the crest of one of the younger princes. So we got this idea and figured, 'what the heck, it's worth a shot.' So we got ahead of them and dropped some divers, me along with em, we boarded the ship with all the flags and slipped a fast-acting gas into the ventilation. With all the ships traveling in a straight line, nobody noticed that the flagship got gassed. So we just snuck our merry way through the ship and took what we wanted."
"So…what you're saying is?"
Kelik burst in, "This idiot kidnapped a Prince!"
"Hell yeah," continued Isaac, "Richard de Britannia, the twelfth prince. We just have to ransom him out, and we'll make loads of cash! Hell, we could probably retire with the ransom of a prince."
"Like they'll pay, the moment you demand ransom, Britannia will be all over you."
"Why the hell do you think I brought him here? We're in the veil, man…they can't find us."
"We can find our way through the veil, what makes you so sure that they can't?"
"We only know because Sera here taught us a few safe routes just to get here, and we're out on the edges of the veil…if we went further in, only she knows how to get around."
"Now you're assuming she'll actually help you, ya haven't asked her if she would."
Sera frowned, planting her hands on her hips, "I'm standing right here ya know, don't talk about me like I'm not."
Isaac rubbed the back of his head, "Ah, of course, my apologies, princess. So, whadda ya say? Wanna help us? I'll give you a share of the ransom money."
She laid a finger against her lips, thinking, "Well, I do have a good place I could hide him…but isn't this a bit dangerous? I thought princes all knew how to fight and defend themselves."
"Yes, well, Prince Richard is one year younger than you are, he has some training, but not enough to really be a problem."
Sera seemed to think a few more moments, then looked up at Jacks, "What do you think?"
The big man shifted slightly, "Well, I honestly agree with Kelik, capturing him wasn't the greatest of ideas, but we have him now, may as well make the best of it, eh? At the least, if Britannia manages to track him to here, he needs to be somewhere they cannot find him."
The copper-eyed girl nodded, "It's settled then, as long as you can get the Captain to agree, I'll help ya out."
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
The young prince shifted around, slowly coming to. His eyes slid open to find himself staring at a very unfamiliar ceiling. Last thing he remembered, he'd been on a ship, then he'd felt very dizzy, then nothing. Now he was lying on his back on what felt like a simple cot, looking up at a steel ceiling. He wiped his blond hair away from his blue eyes and pushed himself to sit up. He looked around the room to find himself alone, the room fairly empty, just his cot, a pair of chairs and a table. The walls were unadorned, dotted with small portholes. Across the room was a bulkhead door, closed.
For a moment, he just sat there in confusion, having no idea what was going on. He rolled off the cot and walked over to one of the portholes and looked out to see rough rocks and lots of fog.
He whirled around when he heard the scraping of the door unlocking, only to stop short as he saw a young, blond girl step through, carrying two plates of food with her. She glanced at him, her copper eyes meeting his for a moment, then turned, pushing the door shut with her bare foot. She looked back at him, "So ya finally woke up, eh?"
He sat on the edge of the cot, watching her, trying to figure out what was going on, "Where am I?"
She set the food down on the table, "Inside a wrecked ship on an island in the middle of nowhere."
"Huh?"
"You're the honored guest of a guild of pirates."
"You mean…"
"Yup, you're a hostage…congrats."
He practically jumped to his feet, and stood there for a moment, in shock, "So…are you their prisoner too? I'm trained in combat, I can get us both out of here."
She finished straightening out the table, "Nope, I'm your guard; name's Sera Dering, nice to meetcha, Prince Richard de Britannia."
The prince stiffened, "Y-you're my guard!? What do they take me for!?"
Sera looked a bit miffed at his comment, "What's the matter? Think they don't take you seriously since they assigned a little girl like me to guard you?"
He crouched into a ready position; clenching his fists, "Hmph, I am going to escape, don't think I'll go easy on you just because you're a girl." He wound up and charged, aiming a fist at the girl's face.
He was stopped short as she simply snapped her foot up, slamming it into the weak point which all men have.
Prince Richard let out an unintelligible whimper as he crumpled to the ground, quickly assuming the fetal position.
Sera folded her arms and stood over the curled up boy, "Geez, and I thought royalty was supposed to have good manners, don'tcha know you aren't supposed to hit girls, least of all in the face?"
Richard whimpered.
She leaned down, looking amused, "You've probably never been kicked there before, have you? Hee hee, sucks being you, maybe next time you won't try to hit me."
"Th-th-that was…cheap, it's…not honorable t-t-to take such shots."
Sera crouched down in front of him, "I'm a pirate, rule number one: never fight fair. If you aren't gonna go easy on me, why should I go easy on you?"
He didn't have an answer…or couldn't form one due to the pain he was feeling.
"Besides, if you wanna go outside, go ahead, the door's unlocked."
He looked up at her, managing to push himself to his feet, "Y-you mean, you aren't gonna try to stop me?"
Sera walked over and sat down at the table, "Why bother? I have an entire maze of fog covered islands, and six hundred miles of open ocean to do that for me. Just, at least have some dinner first. I don't want you starving out there before I can come find you."
He stared at her for a moment, then turned up his nose with a huff, "I would rather starve than share a meal with a terrorist."
"Pirate. And that looks like that's really the choice you're facing. I'm the only source of food for ya, and when I'm done eating, I put your food away."
He looked at her for a moment, then whirled around and dashed to the door, wrenching it open and dashing outside.
